The Ride of My Life - Ziplining with Adventures Unlimited in The #GulfCoast

I'm afraid of heights.

Yes, I'm terrified of heights, of that wobbly, dizzy, am-I-going-to-fall-and-die sensation one gets when looking over the ledge of a very, very high space...

And yet, I went ziplining.

Not once. Not twice...but THREE different times.

There's something to be said for looking your worst fear in the face and saying, "Screw YOU. I am doing this anyway."

While on my first #Brandcation last weekend, I had the opportunity to go ziplining with Adventures Unlimited in The #GulfCoast through a beautiful canopy on the Gulf Coast in Milton, Florida.

Now, I've been ziplining before, in Jamaica. I've done it twice, in different areas. While I really enjoyed both of those experiences, they did nothing to prepare me for what I was going to do with Adventures Unlimited.

Sure, I knew my way around the harness, and I knew to expect a sensation of ultimate freedom and exhilaration as I flew through the air...but I didn't expect to have the time of my life, and almost pee my pants from excitement.

Don't worry, I didn't actually pee my pants. 

Our guides, Kevin and Jacques, were fantastic. They were friendly, fun, informative and...quite easy on the eyes.

Hubs, if you are reading this...I was just kidding about that last part. 

Our ziplining experience began with a "practice run," which was quite short and very low to the ground. It was a great way to figure out if we were comfortable on the lines! After we did our practice, we had a little hike to the beginning of the canopy trail...and that's when things got real. Real fast.

We had to climb a huge tower to begin the canopy tour, and it freaked us out. It was high. As in 60 feet high. And then the 9 of us had to stand on a little ledge, waiting as each person flew off to the next ledge. Now, of course we were strapped in and completely safe, but it was very unsettling to some of us...by some of us, I mean ME.

We had two ladies decide to not do the tour when we reached this tower, and our guides called into headquarters to come and lead them back safely. They were so nice and understanding! I was tempted to go back down with them because my heart was about to beat out of my chest, but I knew that I would be fine once I got on the zipline.

We spent about two hours on our ziplining canopy tour, doing a total of nine runs...some of them were over Coldwater Creek, which was totally amazing in itself! And the scenery in Milton, Florida? It was just beautiful.

One of the things that really set Adventures Unlimited apart from the other ziplining tours I've taken in the past were my guides. I just can't gush enough about them. As we reached each portion of the canopy tour, they told us some interesting tidbit about the forest of Northwestern Florida, about the history of the company - they've been family owned and operated for 30 years!! - and about the landmarks on the property.

I love learning about that sort of thing, and it also helped to distract me from the fact that I was hanging off a ledge with one foot while 60 feet in the air. Our guides Kevin and Jacques told us all about the family cemetery on the property, the love story between the couple who originally owned it, about the gigantic Pileated Woodpecker in the Florida woods, and how the owner of Adventures Unlimited bought an ancient schoolhouse and paid over $150,000 to have it moved to the property and restored so that it wouldn't be demolished!

If you are in the Gulf Coast area and looking for something incredible to do, check out Adventures Unlimited! There are a few different canopy zipline tours available, ranging from 5 to 14 lines! We did the 9 line tour and the price for that is $89.99, and lasts almost three hours long!

It is worth every penny!

I have to say a big thank you to Adventures Unlimited for sponsoring our canopy tour. Spending the day with them on Saturday was the highlight of my Brandcation experience, and made me fall in love with the Gulf Coast even more than I already was!